Before the official market launch date in Germany on July 15, we received a package from Nike. The contents – an artfully designed black and neon green box. Upon opening it, the new, similarly colored Nike+ SportWatch GPS greeted me: “Are we running today?”
The next day I affirmatively answered that question. The first thing I noticed was that the watch could fit a little tighter around my wrist – but since it is tight enough and doesn’t slip, and because I have experienced this with other sports watches, I’m not disappointed and I start my run. I’m thrilled with the fact that, thanks to the TomTom operating system, I can finally observe my precise running speed on my wrist, without the annoying lump on my shoe or extra baggage on my upper arm. I had played around with the menu a bit before starting and found it very user friendly, though I’m sure it was somewhat helpful that I already had experience with the menu on the Nike+Sportband. Even during my run, the watch is easy to operate intuitively, the display lights up when you tap the screen.
Running with my speed showing on the display motivates me like crazy, and I do my run along the Danube faster than usual. When I reach my goal and stop the watch, I’m astonished by the “empathy” shown by my new little wrist-worn friend: The display blinks “High Five” and the screen displays an overview of the most important data regarding my run. I’m also psyched to know that I can connect the watch to a Polar chest belt and monitor my heart rate.
Data collected on the watch can be uploaded to the online running community at www.nikeplus.com via USB. With this runner’s diary, I have an overview of my speeds and the elevations of certain roads I run, I can review the area I have covered using Google Maps, see how many calories I’ve burned and post personalized comments on my runs. I can also set goals for myself, have a training plan drawn up and see how I measure up with other members of the online community in competitions. See for yourself!
All in all, the Nike+ SportWatch GPS, with its intuitive operating features, well-thought-out design, Polar belt connection capability and online community link, is a most well-rounded Wearable Technologies product. Personally, I can say that, for the Nike+ SportWatch GPS and me, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship…
If I could ask Nike to grant me three wishes, I would want the next generation of the watch to:
- Offer a version with a smaller wristband so it would fit more perfectly
- Measure my heart rate directly on my wrist
- Offer an optional “Safety Pod”– a small device that I could leave at home that would track me via GPS so that my friends and family could get to me in the case of emergency.
About the author
Johanna is community manager at Wearable Technologies and running is her favourite sport. You can contact her via info(at)wearable-technologies.com and ask her everything about Wearable Technologies.
